Bonding Over Broken Glasses
by Catgirl-of-Bavaria
Summary: [future possibilities of shonenai][Oneshots]Stan and Koji mechanics, friends, and perhaps a bit more? Just a collection of StanKoji ficlets.


**-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: **I lately got pummeled by a Stan/Koji muse, so there you go. I though I'd make me a little gathering of ficlets to get my ideas out of my head. Beginning with this one, which I thought up last weekend at work. By the way, since I'm here, here's an update or two on my life and my stories; School's started, and I've now had four days of college, Hellz yeah! Figure Drawing is pretty fun, my teacher already likes my art! X3 Aftermath is well in the works, I have struck a major pool of inspiration, as I'm now getting down the to good stuff that I have been _dying_ to write since the story's conception, and I am about 14 pages into the chapter. To put that in perspective, my normal chapter length is about 17-18 pages, somewhere around there. Also, the way it's looking in my head, it may be longer than my usual. Bonus length, perhaps? Oo Journey of a Prince, I still gotta write episode 3…So, that all being said, just a little bit more before I get into the Stan/Koji goodness!

_Things to know about this collection of ficlets:_ First of all, shonen-ai won't be a rare sight around these parts, since I personally believe that Stan and Koji are the cutest couple in Oban since Aikka and Eva. I won't get too citrusy with it, though…and if I ever do that it'll be separate in the M section. .:shifty eyes:. This is my area to spew out my love for the pairing and hopefully hear some support for them as well, but please no flaming.

Oh, also they're all going to be Aftermath-verse; Stan and Koji are apprenticed to Miguel, Stan is orphaned and Miguel(his uncle) is his guardian…and My idea of their age in the canon is around 19, so…

_Things to know about this ficlet: _Stan and Koji are about 10 years old

Disclaimer: Stan and Koji are not mine, but dang are they cute!!

**Bonding Over Broken Glasses**

It was interesting how much of a difference such a small thing can make in someone's appearance.

Sometimes it was hard to imagine anyone without a certain aspect of their appearance, an accessory, an article of clothing. For the racing legend Rick Thunderbolt, someone he'd only seen on TV, that seemed to be the sunglasses. For him, even, he was told it was the toothpick in his mouth that danced with his words, the goggles he'd now had for almost a year, worn on his head the majority of the time, given to him by his uncle, guardian and mentor, Miguel.

For Koji, Stan knew now, it was those glasses. Those square glasses, that looked perfectly outdated, that hid the boy's actual eyes from time to time. They were an integral part of his best friend's image, a perfect compliment to the kid's braininess.

And now they lay, halved at the nosepiece and with a forking crack in one of the lenses, in his dark hands.

"Are you sure that's what happened?" Stan grumbled to Koji, who gave him a startled look with his lens less face.

"But I haven't even told you yet!" Koji exclaimed. Stan gave him a scolding look.

"You told Miguel when you came in the garage that 'you fell.' C'mon, Koji, no one who says that ever actually fell!" Stan said, clutching his hand gently around both halves of the spectacles. Koji blinked once, his eyes seeing a blurry vision of Stan's stern ten year old face as his hand rummaged for electric tape in his tool box.

"Well, I…" Koji murmured, fiddling with his fingers. Stan narrowed his eyes, looking hard at Koji's face. The lighting didn't help much, but they were still there, marks on the boy's light skin.

"What are those? I knew it, someone hit you, didn't they?" Stan demanded of Koji, putting a firm hand on the other boy's small shoulder. Koji's eyes widened as he looked up at Stan, always the larger boy, and always protective. Koji gave a slight smile at the look of pure concern that cut through even his hindered vision. The blurry sight even made him blush.

"Yeah," Koji said quietly. Stan could always get the truth out of him. Stan sighed.

"Who was it?" Stan growled, earning a slight squeak out of Koji.

"Stan, please, you can't just beat up every kid who decides he doesn't like me or how 'nerdy' I look," Koji objected, jamming his hands in his pockets and looking away.

"And what, let them get away with beating you up?" Stan retorted, wrapping a piece of tape tightly around the bridge of Koji's glasses. He pressed them firmly back into formation, and raised the square lenses, setting them on Koji's face while the oriental mechanic in training froze, feeling the cold metal sliding over his face and behind his ears. The one lens was still broken and interrupting his sight, but everything was clear again. After tweaking them only slightly, getting them to fit properly as they could, Koji looked at Stan, the other boy's dark face still full of worry for him and anger for those who'd hurt his friend.

"You're my best friend, Koj, you don't have to ask me to stand up for you." Stan said, placing another hand on Koji's shoulder. Koji went into silent contemplation as Stan stood over him, his other hand tilting the smaller boy's face gently with a touch on his chin to better see the damage.

"So who was it?" Stan asked again, the pure look of caring evident in his dark eyes causing a blush in Koji's face again, the boy's hand automatically reaching up to push his taped glasses back into place.

--

Koji grinned at the reflective surface of a parked car window as he walked down the lane to Miguel's garage, tilting his head every which way. It appeared that the fight marks he'd gotten from yesterday had worn off, leaving his face looking better, even if it was still under broken glasses.

Hiking up his bag of personal tools and bits of homework he planned to do with his best friend, Koji took off from the car at a hurried pace, glancing at his watch. Heading back to his house to pick up parts of his homework and tools and mechanical projects had taken some time from his schedule, where as he usually headed straight to Miguel's from school with Stan. Stan was most likely waiting for him.

"Hi Miguel, how's business today?" Koji called in cheerfully as he entered Miguel's wide-open garage door. The old mechanic leaned out from behind a machine he'd been working on for days.

"Eh, I've had better Koji," Miguel croaked, wiping some sweat away from his forehead with a less spotted area of his gloved hand. "You bring that part I told ya to work on?" He grinned asking the boy about his 'homework.'

"Sure did, once I rerouted the circuits, it worked great!" Koji took a bundle out of his bag with the utmost care, unwrapping the cloth bundle around it.

"Hmm, good, good," Miguel said, examining it in his hand. "Great! A-plus, boy! Knew Stan found something good when he found you!"

Koji smiled with a blush as Miguel ruffled his black hair. Miguel usually prided how well and how quickly Koji responded to these little field tests he gave him.

"Thank you, sir," Koji said with a bow, while Miguel smiled a toothy grin and went back to his previous look. "Um, hasn't Stan gotten back yet?" Koji then asked, looking around the garage. Miguel looked up again, and scratched his head.

"'s a matter a fact he hasn't! He didn' come home with you?" Koji shook his head vigorously, nearly upsetting his broken glasses, his usually narrow eyes suddenly wide.

"N-no! I had to go home and get some of my homework and that piece, we agreed to meet back here!" Koji exclaimed. "I thought for sure he'd get here before I would…"

"It's all right, Koj, I'm here," Stan's voice came, matching the ten year old's appearance in the large doorway of the garage. Koji half leapt for surprise, and half sank from relief as Stan strode in casually, backpack slung lazily on his shoulder, heading for the door that led from the garage to his and Miguel's dwelling.

"I just got a little…sidetracked." Stan shrugged, grinning slightly to himself. "I'm gonna go wash up, then we can do our work in the garage," Koji blinked, watching as Stan went into the house before promptly heading after his friend.

"What do you mean by side-tracked?" Koji asked, half curiously, half accusingly as he leaned into the open bathroom door, where Stan was currently scrubbing his face. Not taking his hands away from his face, Stan's eyes moved to the side to look at Koji. Under his hands, he smiled.

"Just taking care of something, Koji." Stan said coyly. Koji frowned.

"You mean…You're talking about the guys who broke my glasses yesterday, aren't you?" Koji squeaked. "I told you, you shouldn't—"

"I know what you told me, Koj, but I'm not letting them get away with it. Or should I say I didn't let them," Stan grinned, finally turning all towards Koji. Now that his face was visible to him, Koji could see a small but significant bruise on the boy's left cheek.

"You fought them? And you got hurt?!" Koji flustered, blushing profusely and turning Stan's head to examine his cheek. "Stan please, it was no big deal, you didn't have to!"

"I know I didn't have to, but Koj, seriously, if you won't stand up for yourself, then I'm gonna do it for you!" Stan retorted, backing the smaller boy into the wall behind him. Koji's blush didn't disappear as Stan looked with intense dark eyes at him. "I'll always stand up for you, even if you don't want it." Stan said calmly, staring past the broken lenses of Koji's glasses.

Koji fell silent with nothing but a blush on his cheeks. He knew there'd be no arguing with his best friend now. Stan was always the sure one, the fiery one, as well as protective, and Koji felt lucky to have him.

Laughter overtook them both as Koji decided to surrender, throwing himself into a hug with his friend.


End file.
